Please see the Harris Music Studio for lesson policies.
www. harrismusicstudio.com
Note Taking and Practicing
Having a parent around to take notes at lesson and practice with at home can be invaluable. I have devised a system to keep everyone on the same page. Each student will have a binder that will contain practice charts along with some other items. This binder is to be brought every single week to lessons. The student will have a practice chart that you will fill out in lessons. This outlines what they need to be practicing every day. This needs to be filled out by the student and will be reviewed before we start the next week’s lesson. Students need to be practicing six times a week. I try and make students practice not by how long they practice but by how many times they successfully accomplish a certain task. i.e. play this line of music 10 times a day as opposed to spend 10 minutes on it. This will ensure that real practicing is being done as opposed to power struggles between parents and students resulting in “it’s been 10 minutes I can move on” (believe me I didn’t want to practice when I was their age either so I am trying to make this easier on you.) It is critical that when a student is young that a parent practices with them every single time the entire time. Playing the violin is very hard and bad habits can form quicker than you think. Having those extra set of eyes is very important and will only help your child succeed. When the student is old enough we can decide when the parent will only have to spend minimal time in the practicing sessions. Ten minutes with a parent in the room every day will really help the student, no matter how old they are. I want a parent practicing with a student at least 6 times a week no matter how old they are. It would be the best if the parent who was coming to the lesson were the same parent who was practicing with them, this cannot always happen. Please communicate clearly to each other what needs to be happing in practicing or what issues need to be brought up in lesson if different parents are attending different activities.
Listening
Also something that will catapult your child’s learning is listening to the Suzuki CD. This needs to be happening every single day. I will be assigning what tracks on the CD that you need to be listening to. Your child can be listening when playing outside, or doing homework, or eating breakfast. It can be background music in the car. The most important thing is that you listen a lot. On average, a student who does not listen tends to progress four times slower than a student who listens diligently. Imagine a child trying to learn a language while only hearing it on rare occasions. Music is no different then learning a language, we must be constantly listening in order even try and speak the language.
I am excited to teach your child. I will always try to pass on information that I am learning about the Suzuki method and ideas for practicing to keep the parent-child-teacher relationship a positive one.
Please contact Harris Music Studio to sign up for lessons: 402-423-7121